Okay, next chapter. Not much to say except that I sort of began focusing
on my other characters because they're tying the story together. But don't
worry, they won't take over the story but be prepared for a bunch of
shifting that will be going on soon.
Oh, also: BIG NEWS!!!!!
Not really, but I just wanted to get your attention. I want to take a poll about a couple of shippers. And by the way, I have a little interlude of Percy/Oliver. Nothing extreme but I think it'll be there next chapter. Anyway, back to the poll:
Should I have: Sirius/Ari Sirius/Remus Remus/Severus Remus just by himself.
Please choose one 'cause I'm really open to any of these shippers right now. That's all, enjoy the chapter and I'll try to keep the poll running for a bit.
Summer from Hell
"Hey." Andrea said through clenched teeth from her bed. The potion was still in effect and she had a constant pain in her arm as the bones formed again.
"Hi." Her brother grunted as he hauled Draco to bed. The young man had already fallen asleep on the way to her room so Randolph had carried him and was now depositing him gently on the free bed next to his sister and pulling the covers up under his chin. Walking over to where the crowd was, he slumped in his seat and buried his head in his hands and gave a soft groan.
"That bad?" Allie smirked as she handed Andrea a glass of water.
Randolph whined and threw his arm dramatically over his eyes. "Worse." Both girls hissed in pain, for sympathy and, in Andrea case, for the real pain her arm was giving her. "He's going to be a nightmare when he finally comes to age in veela years. I could only just restrain him now."
"You had to restrain him?" Andrea asked.
"Oh yeah. I found him crying over his father's body. Remember what the papers said about his body?" The girls nodded. "It didn't do him justice. Seriously, it was gruesome and poor Draco is lying on him and crying with the morgue attendant standing there in the daze he left her in. He actually wanted to do a resurrection spell." Now everybody in the room, excluding Draco, shuddered at the thought.
"I hope you stopped him." Allie muttered.
"No, I didn't and Zombie-Lucius is walking around at this very moment." He bit out sarcastically and threw an apologetic look to his sister when he saw her saddened face. "Sorry, it's been a really long day." He took a moment to gather his wits before speaking again in a small voice. "Know what the saddest thing is?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "He grew up so much in the hour and a half that we left him."
"Like the end of Never-Never land." Andrea said in a quiet whisper.
"No more pearls in oysters, no more bathtubs filled with jell-o or tap- dancing rodents." Allie whispered.
"He grew up faster than I did." Randolph mused. "He's the Master of Malfoy Manner and all of the finances. He doesn't have any blood relatives left."
"He must feel so alone." Allie said quietly, looking over to his bed.
"He has us." Randolph smiled, an action repeated by the twins.
"He always did."
"And always will." Andrea finished firmly. "But now, I think I'm going to go to sleep." She said, stifling a yawn.
"Sure. Let's go out into the waiting room and kill that outspoken redhead." Randolph said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, an action repeated by Allie on both of Andrea's cheeks.
"Sleep well." Allie said before both left the room. Andrea stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning to her side and glancing at Draco.
"You can stop pretending; they're gone." The statement was met with gray eyes that snapped opened.
***********
The two siblings marched down the halls quietly with their cloaks flowing out behind them and giving off a commanding and cruel air.
"Are we going to kill him?" Allie asked jokingly.
"No, that's illegal. I'll settle for torture." He grinned wolfishly back and they strode into the waiting room and felt all eyes upon them.
Allie easily found Ron and glared at him. "You-wait. Who are you exactly?"
"Ron." He managed quietly.
"Right, Ron, you're an idiot." She said simply.
"I'm sorry, alright?" Ron groaned. "Please don't slap me too." He whimpered pitifully.
"Who slapped you before?" Randolph said, snorting in amusement. His smile grew when the young man pointed to Hermione.
"I like you." Allie said to the girl before turning back to Ron. "Now, if we can just get cursing you out of the way, we'll be ready to go." She missed Ron's paling face and thought deeply for a second. "I think we should castrate him." Ron made a funny noise and grew even whiter, however, she saw the color change this time. "Relax, originally we wanted to kill you, but seeing how that is illegal, only little Ron is going to die." Both newcomers cackled evilly.
"Unless." Randolph whispered, rubbing his chin in a pondering stance, "Unless we make his death look like an accident."
"But how would we do that?" Allie asked, ignoring the shocked looked on everybody's face.
"Easy. We get a rockslide."
"But how would we get a rockslide?"
"Don't worry, I know a guy."
"No way. My idea is fast and then he gets to suffer for the rest of his life." Randolph nodded in agreement.
"Fine, but next time."
"Oh, goes without saying. Anyway." With that, she withdrew her wand from her cloak and pointed it at Ron. Everyone's eyes widened and a few of the adults began trying to reason with her. "Castratio!"
"No!" Ron cried and tried to cover his groin, his eyes squeezed shut in fear. He didn't hear Randolph whisper another spell before he opened his eyes and wondered why nothing happened. "Hey, did the-" He paused in shock when he saw the strange girl holding up a clear jar with some fluids and what looked like-.
'Thump.'
Everybody who had been staring at the black haired duo now turned to the redhead's body that was sprawled on the floor where he fainted. The siblings exchanged looks before dissolving into laughter.
"Oh my God." Allie gasped out as she fell to the floor clutching her stomach. "I can't believe he fell for that!"
All the members of the waiting room stopped cringing for a moment and looked at the girl.
"What do you mean? Wasn't that a real spell?" Arthur asked quietly.
"No." Randolph smirked from the chair he was now sitting in. "We just did that to scare him. He still has all his bits."
"Then what about the jar?" Fred asked as he looked closely at the object still clasped in the older boy's hands.
"Just two knuts that I transfigured. See?" With that, he said the counter curse and passed the coins around. "He can keep those if he likes. Then again, I don't know if he wants to remember this episode."
"Anyway," Allie said, once she had overcome her laughter, "It's not like we could have done it legally."
"Not that that has ever mattered." Her brother whispered, causing her to grin.
"Still, it's illegal to remove any body part from another person without receiving their permission or unless it's for medical treatment like amputation." After finishing this thought, McGonagall seemed to have finally found her tongue.
"Randolph Enoch and Allison Caprice!" Both flinched and turned towards the professor. "This is one of the worst things you have ever done!"
"But not the worst ever, right?" Randolph added quickly.
"See? We're learning. All those speeches, warnings, lectures and death threats are finally getting to us." Allie said smiling innocently.
Bill, who had just gotten there less than twenty minutes ago, looked as though something clicked in his mind.
"Wait, Randolph Enoch? Did you go to Hogwarts by any chance?" Bill asked.
"Yes." He answered warily before his face took on the same expression Bill's just had. "William Weasley? Oh, wow. How are you?"
"Good. How about you? Where do you live now? What have you been doing?"
"Eh." He gave his hand a little shake to show that he was doing okay. "I live in Hell now." He said, smiling evilly.
"That I wouldn't doubt, but seriously." Bill said.
"He's serious." Allie drawled as she picked herself off the floor with her brother's assistance. "There actually is a town in northern America called Hell. I think it's what made him move there in the first place."
"That's not true." He pouted. "I actually moved there because of my job. I'm a creature linguist and contrary to popular belief, the town was actually named Hell because a couple muggles saw some wild goblins running around. Now they just fabricated this story about this captain telling his explorer that he 'didn't care what he called the town. He could call it Hell if he liked.' So now I work with the Magical Creatures Department and International Cooperation for the American Ministry. What about you?"
"I'm a Curse Breaker for Gringotts." Bill stated proudly.
"Really? Wicked." Randolph said in awe. "So you deal with goblins too."
"Yep. They treat me okay, seeing how I keep bringing them gold." Bill said with a laugh.
"Yeah, they're pretty decent if you rub them the right way." The black haired boy mused.
"Bill," Molly Weasley asked, "Could you tell us how you two know each other?"
"Oh, right. Sorry mum." Bill replied. "Randolph and I were in school together for about two years until Randolph-" He trailed off for a moment and then turned back to his ex-classmate. "Wait, what happened to you?"
"I'm staying with the story that I left because of creative differences." He stated smugly, ignoring McGonagall rolling her eyes.
"Poor baby. No one understands you." Allie said with mock-sympathy.
"Was he in the same house?" Molly asked cordially.
Bill, Allie, and McGonagall bit back a laugh. "Of course not." Bill answered. "He was a Slytherin." At his family's shocked gasped he tried to stifle a laugh.
"Don't look so surprised." Randolph said smoothly. "I did just threaten to kill your son."
"How'd you guys meet anyways?" Ginny asked.
Both boys shared a secret gin. "Well, we were in Potions class and Snape decided to remove points from Gryffindor just for the heck of it when Randolph jumps out of his seat and starts declaring that there should be 'equality for all and why should the toad liver be separate from the salamander's? They belonged to the same family and it's what's on the inside that counts and he was sure that inside a potion the livers would be interchangeable'." At his family's un-amused glances, he quickly added, "You just had to be there. Anyway, he starts running around the room switching all the contents and yelling 'no more potions racism!' It was actually very inspiring."
"And very stupid. We both ended up with detention." He then turned towards the Weasley family. "I'm not usually like that. I just had a lot of sugar that day. Luckily, in that detention, where we had to resort all of the ingredients, we became friends."
"And in two years you two managed to break 478 different school rules." McGonagall said with distaste.
"You mean Bill, Head Boy Bill, was a trouble maker?" George asked with delight.
"Yes Mr. Weasley. However," McGonagall continued, "His attitude changed once Randolph left and he began to concentrate on his studies. I wish you and Fred would do the same."
"You were Head Boy?" Randolph asked in surprise, completely ignoring his ex- Transfiguration teacher's remark.
"Yep." Bill said as he nodded.
"Will wonders never cease?"
"Possibly if you actually do something legal." McGonagall mumbled.
Allie looked up at her brother and the two of them had a silent conversation before getting up to leave. "Speaking of legal, we've got some business with the ministry."
"Right. We need to go, but don't worry. We'll be seeing a lot of each other; I can guarantee it." **********
"Next!"
Albus and Severus stepped forward, the younger man clutching a piece of paper in his right hand.
"Hello. Welcome to the Office of Patents. What may I do for you today?" The clerk said with fake jovialness.
"We're here to register a potion made by a Miss Andrea Caprice." Dumbledore said cautiously, watching the clerk's face grow into one of weariness.
"Caprice, you say?" At their nods, he sighed and rubbed his temples. "Let me get the Head of the department." He turned from his post and went in back only to come back a minute later with a gruff looking man in tow.
Anthony Lynch, the Head of the Department of Legal Documents, was always a force to be reckoned with. Dusty blond hair did nothing to hide his icy blue eyes and if that wasn't intimidating, his bulky body comprised of hard muscles that towered over anyone was. He was also Aiden Lynch's father, the seeker for Ireland, and the older Lynch was once a beater for Puddlemere. Rumor had it that he kept his beater club around for disgruntled employees.
Snape carefully masked his emotions only showing indifference towards Lynch while Albus merely gazed innocently and rocked back and forth on his heels.
"Follow me, gentlemen." His gruff voice grunted as he turned towards a back room. The room they entered was drab and a faded taupe that was partially hidden by rows of file cabinets that covered every wall except for the one his desk was situated in front of. The desk itself looked to be a dark mahogany, though it was difficult to see as piles of papers were shuffled in all directions on the surface. Even looking at it now, Snape could see another file of papers appear in his inbox with a fait 'pop'. Lynch gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk as he seated himself in his own. "Well, what can we do for you today?"
Albus once again explained the situation and the other man sunk back into his chair and appeared to be in deep thought.
"What type of potion was it?" He finally said at last, though this question was directed to Snape.
"A bone removal potion. It counteracts the effects of Skelo-Gro." As the man continued to think, Snape quickly added. "Really, it was nothing dangerous." This seemed to snap Lynch out of it and he brought his head up to face the two people in front of him.
"No, it's not dangerous, but you know the rules and restrictions as well as I do. She was forbidden to create any potion until she is a licensed witch. In addition to that, she's not allowed to use magic when away from school and potions fall under the magic category. We've even changed the rules around a bit for her and allowed her to make a potion when supervised by a potions master or when requested to by a doctor or nurse at the hospital she's volunteering at." He sighed and leaned forward placing his hands on the desk. "I'm going to have speak with the Ministers, International Corporation, and The Department of Underage Wizardry. We might have to suspend her magic all together."
Both professors nodded and they rose to leave but halted when Lynch spoke again.
"Shame to see such a bright creature hindered by all these restrictions." Snape half-turned and slowly nodded but felt a chill go down his back in the abstract way he said the statement.
**********
"Are you okay?" Andrea asked hesitantly as she propped herself up on her pillow. Draco did the same and they both stared at each other for a moment before he took a deep breath and sighed.
"I've been better." He said bluntly, causing his cousin to crack a small grin.
"I think we've all been. It's like the summer from Hell." Draco gave a mirthless chuckle at that.
"Very true. I almost can't wait to go back to school. How's your arm?"
Andrea shook her arm a little to show that it had most of its bones back. "Better. I wish I hadn't invented that potion. It was nothing but trouble. You know, Draco," She said, turning serious, "We are all here for you. Randolph's not the only one who has been in your shoes."
"I know, but let's not talk about it now. I want to take it one step at a time but now it beginning to feel like a."
"A leap?" Andrea offered helpfully.
"Yeah." They sat in silence for a few minutes, each thinking over the day. Finally Draco spoke up but in a small and tired voice. "What's going to happen to me?"
"What do you mean?"
"The rest of the summer, and all the other summers until I'm eighteen." His voice began to crack as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I don't want to - I can't go back to the Manor, but I can't just give it up. It's my home."
"You can always stay with us and your loaded so it's not like you have to sell it."
He paused for a moment before whispering, "They died there, didn't they?" At her nod, he lowered himself down on his pillow. "Do I really want that memory associated with where I live? To walk in everyday and know that the floor was once covered in their blood and the ceiling is where my mother hung herself? I'd go mad and probably join them."
"Your house always did have evil spirits lurking in it. I never did see how you could stand to live in a place where poltergeists roam freely and where countless people have died and now haunt the place." She shivered at the thought. "Maybe it's for the best. Let all the dead rest. That house wasn't built on good ground."
"No, it wasn't." He said in agreement. "And I guess I could live in it because it was in the past; I didn't know the people who had died so it didn't seem real. When we walk down the street, who knows how may people's remains lie below us?"
"That's a rather morbid thought."
"I have a sick and twisted psyche."
"That you do." There was silence for a moment. "Wait, how did you know about Narcissa?"
"You mean her death?" His voice warbled on the last word.
"Yeah." She replied warily, unsure how well he could handle the topic.
"I saw the marks on her neck." He replied seemingly indifferent, but Andrea could tell from the stiffness of his voice that his emotions were carefully concealed in an icy mask.
"You're made of stronger stuff then I am."
"Maybe, maybe not. Father always taught me to hide what I felt from the world because it's like showing your hand too early." He gave a dry chuckle at some thought. "He used a lot of poker analogies. Odd how you notice things like that now."
"Really? What other strange things do you remember?" She asked, watching as his eyes lit up with delight.
He opened his mouth to say something but closed it and shook his head after a brief internal debate. "Maybe we should continue this conversation later. I think I'm just going to get some rest."
Andrea nodded and fluffed her pillow, preparing to do the same. "Want a dreamless sleep potion?
"If it's not too much trouble." She nodded and got up to prepare the goblet, when she turned back, he was already asleep. She smiled tiredly and placed the steaming glass on his tray and climbed into bed herself.
Oh, also: BIG NEWS!!!!!
Not really, but I just wanted to get your attention. I want to take a poll about a couple of shippers. And by the way, I have a little interlude of Percy/Oliver. Nothing extreme but I think it'll be there next chapter. Anyway, back to the poll:
Should I have: Sirius/Ari Sirius/Remus Remus/Severus Remus just by himself.
Please choose one 'cause I'm really open to any of these shippers right now. That's all, enjoy the chapter and I'll try to keep the poll running for a bit.
Summer from Hell
"Hey." Andrea said through clenched teeth from her bed. The potion was still in effect and she had a constant pain in her arm as the bones formed again.
"Hi." Her brother grunted as he hauled Draco to bed. The young man had already fallen asleep on the way to her room so Randolph had carried him and was now depositing him gently on the free bed next to his sister and pulling the covers up under his chin. Walking over to where the crowd was, he slumped in his seat and buried his head in his hands and gave a soft groan.
"That bad?" Allie smirked as she handed Andrea a glass of water.
Randolph whined and threw his arm dramatically over his eyes. "Worse." Both girls hissed in pain, for sympathy and, in Andrea case, for the real pain her arm was giving her. "He's going to be a nightmare when he finally comes to age in veela years. I could only just restrain him now."
"You had to restrain him?" Andrea asked.
"Oh yeah. I found him crying over his father's body. Remember what the papers said about his body?" The girls nodded. "It didn't do him justice. Seriously, it was gruesome and poor Draco is lying on him and crying with the morgue attendant standing there in the daze he left her in. He actually wanted to do a resurrection spell." Now everybody in the room, excluding Draco, shuddered at the thought.
"I hope you stopped him." Allie muttered.
"No, I didn't and Zombie-Lucius is walking around at this very moment." He bit out sarcastically and threw an apologetic look to his sister when he saw her saddened face. "Sorry, it's been a really long day." He took a moment to gather his wits before speaking again in a small voice. "Know what the saddest thing is?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "He grew up so much in the hour and a half that we left him."
"Like the end of Never-Never land." Andrea said in a quiet whisper.
"No more pearls in oysters, no more bathtubs filled with jell-o or tap- dancing rodents." Allie whispered.
"He grew up faster than I did." Randolph mused. "He's the Master of Malfoy Manner and all of the finances. He doesn't have any blood relatives left."
"He must feel so alone." Allie said quietly, looking over to his bed.
"He has us." Randolph smiled, an action repeated by the twins.
"He always did."
"And always will." Andrea finished firmly. "But now, I think I'm going to go to sleep." She said, stifling a yawn.
"Sure. Let's go out into the waiting room and kill that outspoken redhead." Randolph said as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, an action repeated by Allie on both of Andrea's cheeks.
"Sleep well." Allie said before both left the room. Andrea stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning to her side and glancing at Draco.
"You can stop pretending; they're gone." The statement was met with gray eyes that snapped opened.
***********
The two siblings marched down the halls quietly with their cloaks flowing out behind them and giving off a commanding and cruel air.
"Are we going to kill him?" Allie asked jokingly.
"No, that's illegal. I'll settle for torture." He grinned wolfishly back and they strode into the waiting room and felt all eyes upon them.
Allie easily found Ron and glared at him. "You-wait. Who are you exactly?"
"Ron." He managed quietly.
"Right, Ron, you're an idiot." She said simply.
"I'm sorry, alright?" Ron groaned. "Please don't slap me too." He whimpered pitifully.
"Who slapped you before?" Randolph said, snorting in amusement. His smile grew when the young man pointed to Hermione.
"I like you." Allie said to the girl before turning back to Ron. "Now, if we can just get cursing you out of the way, we'll be ready to go." She missed Ron's paling face and thought deeply for a second. "I think we should castrate him." Ron made a funny noise and grew even whiter, however, she saw the color change this time. "Relax, originally we wanted to kill you, but seeing how that is illegal, only little Ron is going to die." Both newcomers cackled evilly.
"Unless." Randolph whispered, rubbing his chin in a pondering stance, "Unless we make his death look like an accident."
"But how would we do that?" Allie asked, ignoring the shocked looked on everybody's face.
"Easy. We get a rockslide."
"But how would we get a rockslide?"
"Don't worry, I know a guy."
"No way. My idea is fast and then he gets to suffer for the rest of his life." Randolph nodded in agreement.
"Fine, but next time."
"Oh, goes without saying. Anyway." With that, she withdrew her wand from her cloak and pointed it at Ron. Everyone's eyes widened and a few of the adults began trying to reason with her. "Castratio!"
"No!" Ron cried and tried to cover his groin, his eyes squeezed shut in fear. He didn't hear Randolph whisper another spell before he opened his eyes and wondered why nothing happened. "Hey, did the-" He paused in shock when he saw the strange girl holding up a clear jar with some fluids and what looked like-.
'Thump.'
Everybody who had been staring at the black haired duo now turned to the redhead's body that was sprawled on the floor where he fainted. The siblings exchanged looks before dissolving into laughter.
"Oh my God." Allie gasped out as she fell to the floor clutching her stomach. "I can't believe he fell for that!"
All the members of the waiting room stopped cringing for a moment and looked at the girl.
"What do you mean? Wasn't that a real spell?" Arthur asked quietly.
"No." Randolph smirked from the chair he was now sitting in. "We just did that to scare him. He still has all his bits."
"Then what about the jar?" Fred asked as he looked closely at the object still clasped in the older boy's hands.
"Just two knuts that I transfigured. See?" With that, he said the counter curse and passed the coins around. "He can keep those if he likes. Then again, I don't know if he wants to remember this episode."
"Anyway," Allie said, once she had overcome her laughter, "It's not like we could have done it legally."
"Not that that has ever mattered." Her brother whispered, causing her to grin.
"Still, it's illegal to remove any body part from another person without receiving their permission or unless it's for medical treatment like amputation." After finishing this thought, McGonagall seemed to have finally found her tongue.
"Randolph Enoch and Allison Caprice!" Both flinched and turned towards the professor. "This is one of the worst things you have ever done!"
"But not the worst ever, right?" Randolph added quickly.
"See? We're learning. All those speeches, warnings, lectures and death threats are finally getting to us." Allie said smiling innocently.
Bill, who had just gotten there less than twenty minutes ago, looked as though something clicked in his mind.
"Wait, Randolph Enoch? Did you go to Hogwarts by any chance?" Bill asked.
"Yes." He answered warily before his face took on the same expression Bill's just had. "William Weasley? Oh, wow. How are you?"
"Good. How about you? Where do you live now? What have you been doing?"
"Eh." He gave his hand a little shake to show that he was doing okay. "I live in Hell now." He said, smiling evilly.
"That I wouldn't doubt, but seriously." Bill said.
"He's serious." Allie drawled as she picked herself off the floor with her brother's assistance. "There actually is a town in northern America called Hell. I think it's what made him move there in the first place."
"That's not true." He pouted. "I actually moved there because of my job. I'm a creature linguist and contrary to popular belief, the town was actually named Hell because a couple muggles saw some wild goblins running around. Now they just fabricated this story about this captain telling his explorer that he 'didn't care what he called the town. He could call it Hell if he liked.' So now I work with the Magical Creatures Department and International Cooperation for the American Ministry. What about you?"
"I'm a Curse Breaker for Gringotts." Bill stated proudly.
"Really? Wicked." Randolph said in awe. "So you deal with goblins too."
"Yep. They treat me okay, seeing how I keep bringing them gold." Bill said with a laugh.
"Yeah, they're pretty decent if you rub them the right way." The black haired boy mused.
"Bill," Molly Weasley asked, "Could you tell us how you two know each other?"
"Oh, right. Sorry mum." Bill replied. "Randolph and I were in school together for about two years until Randolph-" He trailed off for a moment and then turned back to his ex-classmate. "Wait, what happened to you?"
"I'm staying with the story that I left because of creative differences." He stated smugly, ignoring McGonagall rolling her eyes.
"Poor baby. No one understands you." Allie said with mock-sympathy.
"Was he in the same house?" Molly asked cordially.
Bill, Allie, and McGonagall bit back a laugh. "Of course not." Bill answered. "He was a Slytherin." At his family's shocked gasped he tried to stifle a laugh.
"Don't look so surprised." Randolph said smoothly. "I did just threaten to kill your son."
"How'd you guys meet anyways?" Ginny asked.
Both boys shared a secret gin. "Well, we were in Potions class and Snape decided to remove points from Gryffindor just for the heck of it when Randolph jumps out of his seat and starts declaring that there should be 'equality for all and why should the toad liver be separate from the salamander's? They belonged to the same family and it's what's on the inside that counts and he was sure that inside a potion the livers would be interchangeable'." At his family's un-amused glances, he quickly added, "You just had to be there. Anyway, he starts running around the room switching all the contents and yelling 'no more potions racism!' It was actually very inspiring."
"And very stupid. We both ended up with detention." He then turned towards the Weasley family. "I'm not usually like that. I just had a lot of sugar that day. Luckily, in that detention, where we had to resort all of the ingredients, we became friends."
"And in two years you two managed to break 478 different school rules." McGonagall said with distaste.
"You mean Bill, Head Boy Bill, was a trouble maker?" George asked with delight.
"Yes Mr. Weasley. However," McGonagall continued, "His attitude changed once Randolph left and he began to concentrate on his studies. I wish you and Fred would do the same."
"You were Head Boy?" Randolph asked in surprise, completely ignoring his ex- Transfiguration teacher's remark.
"Yep." Bill said as he nodded.
"Will wonders never cease?"
"Possibly if you actually do something legal." McGonagall mumbled.
Allie looked up at her brother and the two of them had a silent conversation before getting up to leave. "Speaking of legal, we've got some business with the ministry."
"Right. We need to go, but don't worry. We'll be seeing a lot of each other; I can guarantee it." **********
"Next!"
Albus and Severus stepped forward, the younger man clutching a piece of paper in his right hand.
"Hello. Welcome to the Office of Patents. What may I do for you today?" The clerk said with fake jovialness.
"We're here to register a potion made by a Miss Andrea Caprice." Dumbledore said cautiously, watching the clerk's face grow into one of weariness.
"Caprice, you say?" At their nods, he sighed and rubbed his temples. "Let me get the Head of the department." He turned from his post and went in back only to come back a minute later with a gruff looking man in tow.
Anthony Lynch, the Head of the Department of Legal Documents, was always a force to be reckoned with. Dusty blond hair did nothing to hide his icy blue eyes and if that wasn't intimidating, his bulky body comprised of hard muscles that towered over anyone was. He was also Aiden Lynch's father, the seeker for Ireland, and the older Lynch was once a beater for Puddlemere. Rumor had it that he kept his beater club around for disgruntled employees.
Snape carefully masked his emotions only showing indifference towards Lynch while Albus merely gazed innocently and rocked back and forth on his heels.
"Follow me, gentlemen." His gruff voice grunted as he turned towards a back room. The room they entered was drab and a faded taupe that was partially hidden by rows of file cabinets that covered every wall except for the one his desk was situated in front of. The desk itself looked to be a dark mahogany, though it was difficult to see as piles of papers were shuffled in all directions on the surface. Even looking at it now, Snape could see another file of papers appear in his inbox with a fait 'pop'. Lynch gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk as he seated himself in his own. "Well, what can we do for you today?"
Albus once again explained the situation and the other man sunk back into his chair and appeared to be in deep thought.
"What type of potion was it?" He finally said at last, though this question was directed to Snape.
"A bone removal potion. It counteracts the effects of Skelo-Gro." As the man continued to think, Snape quickly added. "Really, it was nothing dangerous." This seemed to snap Lynch out of it and he brought his head up to face the two people in front of him.
"No, it's not dangerous, but you know the rules and restrictions as well as I do. She was forbidden to create any potion until she is a licensed witch. In addition to that, she's not allowed to use magic when away from school and potions fall under the magic category. We've even changed the rules around a bit for her and allowed her to make a potion when supervised by a potions master or when requested to by a doctor or nurse at the hospital she's volunteering at." He sighed and leaned forward placing his hands on the desk. "I'm going to have speak with the Ministers, International Corporation, and The Department of Underage Wizardry. We might have to suspend her magic all together."
Both professors nodded and they rose to leave but halted when Lynch spoke again.
"Shame to see such a bright creature hindered by all these restrictions." Snape half-turned and slowly nodded but felt a chill go down his back in the abstract way he said the statement.
**********
"Are you okay?" Andrea asked hesitantly as she propped herself up on her pillow. Draco did the same and they both stared at each other for a moment before he took a deep breath and sighed.
"I've been better." He said bluntly, causing his cousin to crack a small grin.
"I think we've all been. It's like the summer from Hell." Draco gave a mirthless chuckle at that.
"Very true. I almost can't wait to go back to school. How's your arm?"
Andrea shook her arm a little to show that it had most of its bones back. "Better. I wish I hadn't invented that potion. It was nothing but trouble. You know, Draco," She said, turning serious, "We are all here for you. Randolph's not the only one who has been in your shoes."
"I know, but let's not talk about it now. I want to take it one step at a time but now it beginning to feel like a."
"A leap?" Andrea offered helpfully.
"Yeah." They sat in silence for a few minutes, each thinking over the day. Finally Draco spoke up but in a small and tired voice. "What's going to happen to me?"
"What do you mean?"
"The rest of the summer, and all the other summers until I'm eighteen." His voice began to crack as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I don't want to - I can't go back to the Manor, but I can't just give it up. It's my home."
"You can always stay with us and your loaded so it's not like you have to sell it."
He paused for a moment before whispering, "They died there, didn't they?" At her nod, he lowered himself down on his pillow. "Do I really want that memory associated with where I live? To walk in everyday and know that the floor was once covered in their blood and the ceiling is where my mother hung herself? I'd go mad and probably join them."
"Your house always did have evil spirits lurking in it. I never did see how you could stand to live in a place where poltergeists roam freely and where countless people have died and now haunt the place." She shivered at the thought. "Maybe it's for the best. Let all the dead rest. That house wasn't built on good ground."
"No, it wasn't." He said in agreement. "And I guess I could live in it because it was in the past; I didn't know the people who had died so it didn't seem real. When we walk down the street, who knows how may people's remains lie below us?"
"That's a rather morbid thought."
"I have a sick and twisted psyche."
"That you do." There was silence for a moment. "Wait, how did you know about Narcissa?"
"You mean her death?" His voice warbled on the last word.
"Yeah." She replied warily, unsure how well he could handle the topic.
"I saw the marks on her neck." He replied seemingly indifferent, but Andrea could tell from the stiffness of his voice that his emotions were carefully concealed in an icy mask.
"You're made of stronger stuff then I am."
"Maybe, maybe not. Father always taught me to hide what I felt from the world because it's like showing your hand too early." He gave a dry chuckle at some thought. "He used a lot of poker analogies. Odd how you notice things like that now."
"Really? What other strange things do you remember?" She asked, watching as his eyes lit up with delight.
He opened his mouth to say something but closed it and shook his head after a brief internal debate. "Maybe we should continue this conversation later. I think I'm just going to get some rest."
Andrea nodded and fluffed her pillow, preparing to do the same. "Want a dreamless sleep potion?
"If it's not too much trouble." She nodded and got up to prepare the goblet, when she turned back, he was already asleep. She smiled tiredly and placed the steaming glass on his tray and climbed into bed herself.